April 18, 2017
What America Can Learn from China’s People’s Liberation Army
President Trump recently called for a $54 billion increase in military spending to “send a message to the world… of American strength, security, and resolve.” The U.S. defense establishment is currently grappling with how these additional funds should be spent to achieve the stated objective. Merely investing in increasing the size of our forces is ineffective. Instead, the United States must prioritize modernizing its capabilities to meet new types of threats. As the United States advances down this path, it could look towards an unlikely source for inspiration: the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). China watchers around the world continue to characterize the PLA as a “paper tiger”, but the United States could stand to learn a thing or two about force modernization from its Asian counterpart.
China’s last major conflict with a foreign adversary, its failed offensive in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese war, led foreign commentators and military experts to deem the PLA a “ragtag” military that was disorganized and underfunded. Generally, the PLA lacked the technology and organizational wherewithal needed to fight even the smallest of adversaries. Today, the PLA has undergone massive military modernization efforts. They still note that the PLA is “not ready” to fight in a modern war due to technological gaps in China’s air defense, the nature of the bureaucratic and corrupt Chinese state, and its lack of combat experience.
Read the full article at The National Interest.
More from CNAS
-
America’s Taiwan Dilemma
Podcast
Jacob Stokes from the Center for New American Security in Washington explains the implications for regional security regarding the rising tensions between China and Taiwan. Th...
By Jacob Stokes
-
Putin’s Panic Surge? With Richard Fontaine
Podcast
Richard Fontaine joins Dan Senor to discuss Russia’s - Ukraine War, Iran deal negotiations, the Middle East & the Abraham Accords anniversary. Listen to the full interview on...
By Richard Fontaine
-
Biden’s Team Saved Ukraine by Learning from Its Mistakes
Commentary
The weaker the Russian position becomes, the more likely it could still resort to extreme measures....
By Robert D. Kaplan
-
International Community Must Do More to Protect Human Rights in Afghanistan
Commentary
Human rights in Afghanistan, especially those of women and girls, have deteriorated sharply during the first year of Taliban rule. The very real prospect of losing a generatio...
By Lisa Curtis, Annie Pforzheimer & Jan Mohammad Jahid
